


Epilogue 3: There Is a Season

by MauveCat



Category: Endless Summer (Visual Novel)
Genre: Aging, Family Feels, Family Reunions, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29065026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MauveCat/pseuds/MauveCat
Summary: Another year, another reunion, and the Catalysts gather on La Huerta.
Relationships: Craig Hsiao/Zahra Namazi, Diego Soto/Varyyn (Endless Summer), Estela Montoya/Main Character (Endless Summer), Grace Hall/Aleister Rourke, Mike Darwin/Quinn Kelly/Jake McKenzie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	Epilogue 3: There Is a Season

Frowning to herself, Estela rummaged in her toiletry bag. “I think Esperanza stole my moisturizer again,” she muttered.

“She helped us carry our bags up from the boat, so she probably did,” Taylor agreed as she towel dried her hair. “It’s a decoy, though – I put the good stuff in an unlabeled bottle and refilled your bottle with the brand she usually uses. Look for a pink bottle with a blue cap.”

“Thank you, _querida_.” Estela smiled a little as she began dabbing the cream under her eyes. “I wonder whether she or I will get tired of the game first? She’s only seventeen – she has no business worrying about wrinkles. I don’t think I put any thought into my skin at all until I was more than twice her age.”

“Really? Because I thought about your skin _all_ the time. Still do. Scooch over a little.” Taylor gently bumped Estela with her hip as she joined her wife at the mirror. “Did she seem quiet to you during the trip over here, though?”

Estela hummed quietly in assent. “You noticed it too? She usually starts nagging us to let her steer the boat as soon as we clear the harbor, but I think she spent most of the time texting on her phone. I know that’s a stereotypical teenage thing, but... it’s not really like her, is it?”

“No, it’s not. She also didn’t pay any attention to Flor’s non-stop commentary on every bird and fish she saw, and we both know the superhuman effort it requires to ignore _that_.” Taylor leaned forward a little and her eyes narrowed. “Do you think… maybe Zahra is on to something,” she mused as she ran her fingers through her blonde bob.

Estela laughed. Zahra had shown up for the reunion with her hair dyed pure, gleaming silver; when questioned, she’d made a blasé comment that if she had to have gray hair, it was going to be on her own terms. “You’re gorgeous no matter what, and I’ll love you whatever you do with your hair. But… maybe not silver?”

“Well, no, but maybe –”

Both women looked around at a knocking at their door. Before either of them could respond, it flew open and a brown-haired girl ran inside and threw herself on the bed. “Don’t eat the first batch of muffins,” she said cheerfully. “Sugar and salt look a _lot_ alike. But Uncle Raj helped me with the second batch and they taste okay.”

Shaking her head, Estela recapped the moisturizer. “You’re a menace, _mija_ ,” she said fondly.

“Uh-huh. What’s taking you two so long? The rest of us have been up for _hours_.”

Laughing, Taylor walked over to drop a kiss on their younger daughter’s forehead. “And by ‘the rest of us,’ you mean all of the cousins, right?”

“Well, yeah.” Flor’s ‘duh’ was clearly implied. “Everyone in the bunkhouse has been up since before sunrise. Immy took a bunch of pictures of us and CR’s getting a baseball game started in a little while. Reggie and Xiraana are already on their second tennis match, too. I don’t know how you can sleep through everything.”

Estela winked at Taylor over their daughter’s head. “It wasn’t easy, Florita. But you’ve made your point – we’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay, Mami. And remember – _don’t_ eat the first batch.” Flor shot up and ran out of the bedroom.

As she wound her long hair up into a soft bun, Estela said, “She’s energetic enough back home – it’s like La Huerta always gives her batteries an extra boost.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll probably sleep for a solid week when we get her back home again.” The two of them left their bedroom. After pausing to say good morning to Sean and Varyyn as they sat in the living room, poring over the building plans to expand the bunkhouse again, they went into the kitchen. While Estela seated herself with the family members still lingering over breakfast, Taylor grabbed a cup of coffee and stepped out into the bright morning sun. As soon as she closed the door behind her, a dog lying next to the house sat up and looked at her expectantly.

“Hey there, Daffy. Who’s a good boy?” Taylor bent down to stroke the young dog’s smooth gray head, and his thin tail thumped in ecstasy. “Do you wanna shake? C’mon, shake.” She held her hand next to the dog’s leg; he nosed at her palm, and then flopped over onto his back, staring up at her with a wide, expectant grin. “No, not that.” But Taylor gave his tummy a good scratch before she stood up to join Diego and Craig where they sat by the side of the house. “He’s a big change from Buddy,” she said as she leaned against the back of Diego’s chair.

“Nah, Raj says he’s learned almost as many commands as she knew,” Craig told her. “He’s just never in the right mood to do the things anyone asks him to do. It’s gotta be on his terms. Isn’t that right, Daffodilly?” The pitbull mix got to his feet and came over to sit down next to Craig, one paw held obediently in front of him. “See?” He pushed his wide-brimmed hat back and grinned up at Taylor as he shook the dog’s paw.

“I’ll take your word for it. Sean’s really getting into those plans for the addition, isn’t he?” Taylor asked.

“He sure is,” Diego agreed. “At this rate, the bunkhouse is going to end up being as big as the original beach house.”

“Because _some_ people just can’t stop breeding,” Zahra said as she came outside. “Mark my words, there’ll be grandkids before you know it. And put your damn hat on right, dumbass. I don’t want that melon of yours getting sunburned again.”

“Ahh, you’re not fooling anyone, Z. I know how much you love rubbing lotion into my sexy bald head.”

Diego shook his head. “It’s too early for this. I need more coffee. How about you?” he asked Taylor.

“Maybe later, but could you take my cup inside for me? I better see what trouble my kids are up to before I get a refill.” Straightening up, Taylor strolled past the makeshift tennis court. As competitive as always, both Reggie and Xiraana ignored her completely. Reggie’s wife Chichima, deep in conversation with Xiraana’s girlfriend Hilanni, gave her a cheerful wave as she passed. Taylor smiled as she continued on the path to the beach. This was Chichima’s third trip to La Huerta, and her second visit after being fully accepted into the family. By now, her astonishment had faded enough to allow her to truly enjoy the island and its inhabitants.

Walking toward a large canvas canopy set up on the beach, Taylor joined Mike and Jake where they sat on a blanket with their youngest child. “Has the game started yet?” she asked as she seated herself.

“Nope, they just finished choosing teams and it looks like they’re setting up the field now,” Mike told her. “Your kid’s taken two sunscreen breaks already, but it looks like they’re about ready to start.”

Taylor grinned as she looked at the group of children. “Essie has been listening to Michelle’s lectures on how early sun damage can set in, and I think she really took it to heart.” She wasn’t sure how well Esperanza could play baseball in her huge sun hat, but it would be fun to find out; it was a relief that she seemed to be pulling out of her funk a little. It looked like CR was captain of the opposing team; at sixteen, he was nearly as tall as Sean, nearly as driven as Michelle, and already as beautiful as both. “It looks like Imogen is putting her camera down long enough to actually play this time.”

“Yeah, and I just gave Win some tips on how to throw a – JAMIE!” Without warning, Jake shot to his feet. Putting his hands to his mouth, he continued to bellow. “James Michael Kelly, I’m talking to you! You better not be using that sabertooth as third base!”

The redheaded boy turned around. “But Pop, he’s asleep and Doryyn says –”

“I don’t care. If Doryyn said to go jump in the volcano, would you do it?”

“We were not going to jump _in_ the volcano, Jake,” Xiraana’s youngest brother said. “But Halaun and I found some fossils near the top and we wanted to –”

“NO VOLCANOES. PERIOD.”

Another redhead waved her arm in the air. “But what if me and Ellery –”

Mike raised his voice as well. “No sabertooths and no volcanoes, Fiona, and don’t try to rope your little sister into anything. We haven’t forgotten the slime incident.”

“Aw, Daaad –”

“And no whining,” Quinn called to her twins as she joined the group. “You heard your fathers.” She looked up at their oldest son as she sat down in the sand. “Ben, would you mind…?”

The dark-haired boy grinned. “You want me to keep the brats from doing anything _too_ stupid? Sure.” With a wave over his shoulder, he jogged over to join the baseball game.

“And I don’t care if it’s sleeping, keep them away from that cat!” Groaning, Jake took a seat between his spouses. “When we get back home, remind me to send my folks a bunch of flowers and a six-pack. They always made family vacations look so easy.”

Taylor laughed. “In all fairness, though, they only had you and your sister to wrangle. When you consider that you’ve got five kids, of course it’s going to be a lot harder. Especially since, you know….”

“Since, you know, _what_?” Jake raised his eyebrows. “You tryin’ to imply something there, Princess?”

Quinn poked him in the side. “She’s probably trying to be nice about the fact that somehow all of our kids, even the ones without your DNA, managed to inherit your….” She leaned around him to look at Mike. “What’s the most diplomatic way we can phrase it?”

“They all got Grandpa’s complete lack of common sense.” Mike picked up their youngest child and took a seashell out of her mouth. “Isn’t that right, Ava?” The toddler squealed and lunged for the seashell, held just out of reach. “Okay, who’s got her teething ring?”

Quinn patted around the blanket, then held up a bright green ring triumphantly. “Found it!” She brushed off a few grains of sand and handed it to the child. “Here you go, angel.”

Shaking her head, Taylor looked at her friends affectionately. “I remember when Ben was a baby – all of you sterilized every single thing he touched.”

“Yeah, but that was four kids ago. Funny how the germs got progressively less dangerous with every kid,” Mike replied as Ava began happily gumming her ring. “Don’t try to tell us that you were anywhere near as careful with Flor as you were with Essie.”

“Well… no. It would have been a waste of time to even try.” Taylor shook her head at the memory. By the time she could crawl, Flor was almost impossible to keep track of, let alone contain. “With that one, the best we could do was minimize the damage.”

“Yeah, I remember the time she – good job, Ells!” Jake called.

Quinn laughed. “She’s running the wrong way, though.”

“Details, details. CR’s got her pointed in the right direction now… aaand she missed the base and just kept running,” Mike said with a grin. “I think we got a future sports star on our hands, folks.”

A little distance away, the rest of the family slowly filtered out of the beach house to observe the baseball game. Falling back a bit, Estela pulled Diego to the edge of the group. “I haven’t checked in with you yet. How are you doing?”

He shrugged a little as he took her hand. “I’d be lying if I said I was completely fine, but... it’s getting better. I really appreciate that you and Taylor went to Riverside with me.”

She sighed. “We knew it really wasn’t possible for Varyyn to go with you and we just hated the thought of you sitting through that and not having any family with you – ah, _mierda_.” Estela winced as soon as the words left her mouth. “Diego, I didn’t mean –”

He gave her hand a little squeeze. “I know. You’re not entirely wrong, though.” He shook his head. “I guess... I accepted a long time ago that Mom is a lost cause, but I suppose there was always a part of me that hoped Dad would finally want to have some kind of relationship with me, even a limited one. That won’t happen now. I have to admit, though, I was surprised that my cousins actually stood up for me.”

Estela found herself growing angry all over again at the memory of Diego standing among the pallbearers at his own father’s funeral, and his mother working herself into a rage at his presence. Just as Diego was on the verge of stepping aside to keep the peace, his cousin Hugo had gone over to his aunt and, very quietly and very clearly, he’d told her that if Diego left, they were _all_ leaving, and they would let her explain to the priest what had happened and why there were no pallbearers. “I suppose you know that Taylor and I were holding one another back when she started in on you.”

“And I’m grateful to both of you – both for wanting to defend me, and for not doing it in the middle of the funeral.” Diego took a deep breath. “I suppose the silver lining is that because of me, a couple of my younger cousins have felt comfortable coming out. There are still some of my parents’ generation that aren’t exactly thrilled, but Mom seems to be the only one left who’s really... vicious about it.”

“Does that mean that you’re going to go back to California for visits more often?” Estela asked quietly.

Diego’s steps slowed. “You know... I don’t think so. I want the best for them, and I’ll stay in touch with them – well, with some of them, but it’ll be from here. Every time I leave La Huerta, the outside seems just a little stranger, just a little more alien.” He smiled slightly. “That’s a telling choice of words... _alien_. Varyyn told me years ago that when our souls joined at Niala’rei, I became a Vaanti. It’s starting to look like he was right.”

“I think I understand what you mean. As long as you don’t stop taking _my_ calls –”

Laughing, Diego released Estela’s hand and put his arm around her waist. “Never. Like you said, I need to have family in my life.”

* * *

“So you think the program is worth expanding?”

Taylor grinned up at Raj. “Oh, definitely! College students always seem to gravitate toward the unhealthiest meals possible, either because they’re broke, busy, or… well, stoned as hell.” Raj’s belly laugh filled the kitchen. “So your idea of combining dorm-friendly cookware and a few weeks’ worth of shelf-stable meals really took off at the university. Once word got out, even students who were living off-campus came to grab a kit or two.”

“That’s great! The testing groups at Hartfeld said the same thing. I have ideas for a few tweaks in mind, but I’ll set up a meeting with my manufacturing group to see about expanding the program. Do you think a subscription model would work?”

Taylor nodded. “Depending on how many pre-orders you get, maybe you could – oh, Essie. I didn’t see you there, sweetie.”

Esperanza stood a little awkwardly at Taylor’s side. “Could I talk to you for a minute, Mom?” she asked quietly with an apologetic glance at Raj. “Sorry, Uncle Raj, but… it’s kind of personal.”

Taylor looked up at him, concerned at the anxious tone of her older daughter’s voice. He nodded and busied himself with putting the leftovers from lunch in the refrigerator. “Sure, honey… let’s go into our room.” Estela looked up from where she was talking with Sean and Grace, but Taylor gave her a little shake of her head as she and Esperanza left the kitchen and headed for the bedrooms. Once they were alone, Taylor asked, “Is everything okay, Essie?”

“Wellll… I was just wondering… do you think maybe we could head home a little early? I mean, we came on our own boat, so we don’t need Uncle Jake to fly us back to La Colina. Right?”

Sitting down on the foot of the bed, Taylor patted the spot next to her; after a moment, Esperanza sank down beside her. Very gently, Taylor asked, “I know you’ve been texting with Renata. Did she say something about Canela that made you worry?”

Esperanza let out a long breath. “No… she ate her breakfast all right this morning, and Baloo and Mowgli are fine too. It looked like she used the litter box okay and Ren said they were all cuddled together in the same cat bed when she locked up the house. It’s just… I’m worried about her anyway, Mom.”

Taylor nodded. “I know you are, sweetie. We all are… but Canela is an old, old lady now.” Reaching out, she took her daughter’s hand. “Losing Jeb really hurt, didn’t it?”

Esperanza nodded. “I just… don’t want her to be alone if it happens. When it happens,” she sniffed. “I remember how you said that Jeb would be scared and lonely if he didn’t have someone with him at the end, and – and I remember how he just went to sleep. I – I don’t want Canela to be frightened when it’s her time.”

“Oh, baby,” Taylor sighed. Flor hadn’t been old enough to fully understand the loss of their genial orange boy six years earlier, but Essie had cried for weeks. “Okay. Mami and I will talk about it, and we’ll see what Renata says tomorrow. If it looks like we need to, the three of us will head home and we’ll see if Grace and Aleister can make a detour and bring Flor to San Trobida when they leave. How does that sound?”

Brushing away the tears spilling from her bright blue eyes, Esperanza looked at her apologetically. “I don’t want to make the rest of you miss the reunion.”

“And we don’t want you to be worried or unhappy, baby. Do you need a minute to yourself?” Esperanza nodded mutely. “Okay. Come on out when you’re ready.” With a gentle kiss to her daughter’s cheek, Taylor stood up and left the bedroom.

Estela met her in the hallway. “Is everything all right?” she asked quietly.

Taking her hand, Taylor led her back to the living room. Just as softly, she replied, “She’s worried about Canela, and she asked if we could cut our stay here a little short.”

Without hesitation, Estela nodded. “I was wondering if that was it. I’ll talk to Flor – I know how much she loves her time on La Huerta, but I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“I thought maybe we’d ask if she could stay here, and Aleister and Grace could bring her to us when they leave?”

Estela considered it. “It’s a little out of their usual way home, but I don’t think they’d mind. And it would give us a chance to show Chichima around San Trobida if they can stay a while... I’ll talk to them about it.” She smiled slightly. “And Chichima seems to be one of the few people who can get Flor to be quiet for more than five minutes at a time, so the trip might not be too nerve-wracking for them.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

Estela gave her a reassuring smile. “It’ll be okay. We can send Renata a message and ask her to give us an honest opinion of how Canela is doing. We don’t have any reason to believe that anything will happen to her any time soon, but if it’ll put Essie’s mind at ease, we’ll do what’s best. There’ll be other reunions.”

Feeling a bit better, Taylor put her arms around Taylor’s neck. “I thought pep talks were _my_ thing.”

“Just one of the many things I learned from you, _mi vida_ ,” Estela whispered as she leaned down for a kiss.

“Ewww. I mean, not _really_ ewww, but... do you _have_ to do that here?” Flor asked plaintively from the doorway.

Laughing, Taylor looked over to where Flor stood with Ellery and Win, all of them holding bowls of ice cream. “Sorry, baby. We’ll go hide our ancient displays of affection in some dark, distant corner.”

Flor sighed. “That’s almost worse,” she said mournfully.

* * *

Walking through the soft La Huerta twilight, Estela sat down beside Varyyn and Michelle. “This seems like a serious conversation. Is anything wrong?”

Michelle shook her head. “No. We were just talking about childhood illnesses, actually.” She glanced at Estela. “I don’t know if any of us have discussed this in depth with one another... but do you realize how unusual it is that none of our children ever had more than an occasional cold, or an upset stomach here and there?”

Estela’s eyes went to her two daughters, sitting in a cluster of their cousins, and she nodded. “Taylor and I... the first few years the girls were in school, we’d stock up the medicine cabinet every winter when flu season rolled around. We assumed at first that we just got lucky every year but then we realized that Grace and Aleister hardly ever mentioned their children being sick either. We thought about bringing it up with the rest of you, but – well, I’ve always prided myself on not being even a little superstitious, but I suppose I didn’t want to jinx it by saying anything.”

“I won’t make fun of you for feeling that way, because I had the same reaction.” Michelle smiled at her son. “CR had a cold about once every three years. He never had strep and he had a mild case of bronchitis once, but he never had anything more serious. I wanted to give myself the credit for being such a careful parent,” she said with a laugh, “but not even _my_ ego would let me get away with that.” Her smile faded. “We all remember how Vaanu healed Quinn, and I started to wonder if maybe there was a connection. Did you know that the Vaanti hardly ever get sick?”

“There is a fever that all of our children seem to catch, but it only comes once to each child,” Varyyn said. “And the effects are never very serious. That is why we did not worry at first when Diego caught it during his first full year among us, and that is why we did not tell Michelle right away that he was ill.”

“And I’m still kicking myself that it never occurred to me to worry about that. Oh, the stories I could tell you about cross-cultural disease transmission,” Michelle murmured. “As sick as Diego got from it, it could have been so much worse. But he hasn’t caught anything since. I’m a little concerned about his medical history... most of the men in his family are lucky to live past seventy, but Varyyn has been assuring me that since he’s been living on La Huerta, Diego really doesn’t have any choice but to eat healthy and walk everywhere. I think his lifestyle might offset his family history.” She frowned, and when she spoke again, it was very slowly. “You all remember that last hard tackle Sean took before he retired? The initial scans showed some serious damage.”

Estela and Varyyn exchanged a concerned look. “You never told us that.”

Michelle sighed. “Because by the time they did the second scan the next morning, it didn’t show anywhere near as much damage. By the following week, there was none at all. The team doctors were mystified, but when his scans kept on coming back clean, they just wrote it off as equipment malfunctions. His mother said that it was a miracle, though... and I wasn’t inclined to disagree with Trisha, especially after Sean and I asked IRIS to do her own scan to confirm the results. It was like his brain regenerated all on its own.”

Estela thought back, recalling the uncanny quickness with which her own children always seemed to heal. “A few months ago, Flor sprained her ankle when she tried to vault over the couch. The doctor bandaged it up and told her it would be sore for at least six weeks. It was only two weeks before she was running around on it like there was never anything wrong, and she said it felt fine whenever we told her to keep off of her feet. I suppose Taylor and I just chalked it up to Flor being Flor.”

“Well, Flor _is_ Flor so she might not be the best example.” Michelle’s smile faded. “I wondered at first if our time on La Huerta somehow altered our DNA and gave us all some degree of enhanced immunity that we passed along to our children. But then I considered all of Mike and Jake and Quinn’s kids. Ben and Ellery were born through surrogacy, and Ava is adopted, and they seem as healthy as the rest of the cousins. And when Quinn carried the twins, the only thing she asked IRIS to make sure of was that neither of them had inherited the gene for Rotterdam’s. I’m starting to think that there’s something about the environment on La Huerta itself that’s keeping us healthy.”

“And the Vaanti do not know any illness like what you call cancer.” At Varyyn’s hushed words, all three of them automatically looked toward the bonfire, where Craig was trying to get Hilanni and Aleister to do the hula with him.

After a long silence, Estela asked quietly, “Is he... really still in remission?”

Michelle nodded slowly. “When he was first diagnosed, I told all of you to _not_ look up anything about pancreatic cancer, and I know all of you ignored me.” She blinked back tears. “Barely three percent of patients survive ten years after being diagnosed... and Craig is on year twelve. According to Zahra, he had another clean checkup in April, and I believe her. I think that’s the one thing she wouldn’t be able to keep to herself. Other than his hair never growing back after his treatments, it’s like he was never sick at all. So I think that’s one more reason we need to be very careful about La Huerta.” Clearing her throat, she looked at Varyyn. “CR is starting to ask if it’s okay to bring Devon into the family. And Sean and I _love_ Devon – they’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and they’ve been dating CR since the two of them met their freshman year of high school. But... they're both so young, and La Huerta is a lifetime commitment,” she finished softly.

Laughing almost to herself, Estela said, “We’re not exactly the best people to tell our children that you shouldn’t expect to spend the rest of your life with your first love, are we?”

Varyyn stared up at the darkening sky. “I have watched him grow, and I think it is unlikely that CR would love a person he could not trust. It is only a matter of time before your world becomes aware of mine. I do not think it will happen in our lifetimes, and not even in the lifetimes of these young ones here. But in the lifetimes of _their_ children... perhaps. I believe there will come a day when the Vaanti walk openly among humans. My people are far more open than they once were, and from what I have seen, your people are becoming... kinder. I do not know when the time will come, but it _will_ come.” Lowering his gaze, he smiled at Michelle and Estella. “So it is our task to have faith in that future, and to prepare the path leading to it. I will talk to CR, and next year, we will see what the passing of time brings to us.”

* * *

Leaning back on her hands, Taylor tried to make herself more comfortable on the pile of rocks by the shore. The music coming from the beach house had grown softer and slower, the voices lower and more subdued. She knew that people were starting to wander off to their beds... she smiled at the thought of her family. The children seemed to be growing so quickly. Some of them were adults already, and her smile faltered a little at the realization that her Esperanza stood at that threshold. Although she had one year of high school to go, she’d already been accepted at the university in La Colina and she was eager to move into the dorms with her friend Renata. At least she’d be close to home for a few years longer... Sean had told her that CR was interested in attending UCLA, and Reggie and Chichima lived in Nigeria, thousands of miles from Grace and Aleister. But that really wasn’t unusual. Children left their homes, and they made homes and lives of their own. It was the way of the world.

It was the way of this world.

Taylor stared out at the dark, placid waves, and then up at the dark, twinkling sky. She smiled to herself as a single distant star, separate from any constellation she knew, flickered into brightness. She followed its path as it fell into the horizon.

“Is this a private party, or can anyone join?”

Without looking around, Taylor extended her hand to Estela. “You’re welcome any time.”

After she’d climbed up to sit beside her wife, Estela nodded toward the sky. “Anyone we know?” she asked.

Taylor felt her smile grow softer, more nostalgic. “They’re getting harder to connect with every year,” she whispered. “But they still like to make sure that I’m okay.” The memories of her time with Vaanu among the stars faded just a little bit more with every reunion, but the warmth of her creators’ wish for her continuing happiness was as strong and certain as ever. She leaned into the arm Estela placed around her shoulders. “It sounds like the party is winding down.”

“Mmm-hmm. I had a word with Flor before she headed off to the bunkhouse – I told her that you and I might take Essie back home a little early.”

Taylor looked at Estela. “Is she okay with staying here without us?”

“Actually....” Estela chuckled. “She said that if we do go home, she wants to go with us because Essie will probably need her. She says that she’ll do her best to be strong for her sister. She’ll even try to not talk Essie’s ear off.”

Laughing in wonder, Taylor put her head on Estela’s shoulder. “ _Damn_. How did we get so lucky?”

“I have no idea... but every day of my life, I’m more thankful that our lives brought all of us together. And every year of my life, I grow more eager for the next,” Estela murmured as she pressed a kiss to Taylor’s temple.

“Me too, babe,” Taylor sighed happily. “Me too.”

_To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. – Ecclesiastes 3:1_

**Author's Note:**

> Random headcanon bits and pieces:
> 
> Although his birth certificate says Craig Richard, Sean and Michelle's son has been called CR since before he was crawling. Craig had hoped the family would have a Big Craig and a Little Craig; that didn't happen, but CR has never called Craig anything but Uncle Big.
> 
> Shortly after her husband's death, Diego's mother started showing signs of dementia. Toward the end, she was always polite to Diego when he came to visit... because she had no idea who he was, and it wasn't right to be rude to a stranger. Her mother had taught her better than that.
> 
> Grace and Aleister realized that their youngest son was completely deaf when he was a few days old. On receiving the news, the other Catalysts began learning sign language so they could talk to Win from the beginning. For her part, Blaire Hall began working on new cochlear implants at once. While her design revolutionized the hearing aid industry, as soon as the problem was solved, she immediately lost interest in her grandson. However, the technology she developed allowed Win to enlist in London's Metropolitan Police, where he rose rapidly through the ranks.
> 
> In 2113, the Pan-American Union, led by the organization's president, Olivia Cruz-Montoya, welcomed the Vaanti of La Huerta into the wider world.
> 
> ...And Epilogue 4 will be hard for me to write, so please... be patient with me.


End file.
